According to the KPMG Pulse of Fintech report, Global fintech investment roared ahead at a record pace in the first half of 2018, with US$57.9B invested across 875 deals. This value is leaps and bounds beyond the US$38.1B invested throughout the entirety of 2017.

Global fintech investment roared ahead at a record pace in the first half of 2018, with US$57.9B invested across 875 deals, a significant increase from the US$38.1B invested in all of 2017, according to the Pulse of Fintech report.

Some of the trailblazers include the record-setting US$14B raise by Ant Financial in Q2’18 and Vantiv’s acquisition of WorldPay for US$12.9B in Q1’18.

Of course, they were not the only contributors. Just the sheer volume of deals that occurred in 2018 have increased, rising from 834 in H2’17 to 875 deals in H1’18.

The report also indicates that the average value of late-stage venture financings have skyrocketed to US$25M during H1’18. This was an increase from the US$14 annual average seen in 2017.

Early stage deal sizes leaped as well, from an average of USS$5.0M in 2017 to US$9.2M, and this is just the mid-point of 2018.

A Shift in High-Stake Fintech Relationships

Venture capitalists are still keen on funding fintech startups, and this interest isn’t limited to just one fintech subsector. It is also notable that mergers and acquisitions among fintech companies have increased as well, as mature fintechs seek exits.

Merger and acquisition activity has easily matched the most active periods seen to date.

Ian Pollari, Global Co-Lead, KPMG Fintech said,

Ian Pollari

“Large deals at all stages of investment powered fintech investment in the first half of 2018. But just as notable is the breadth of investment. ”

“We’re seeing a mix of fintech sub-sectors drawing increasing interest, including data, AI and regtech — these horizontal capabilities have appeal across the full spectrum of the financial services industry.”

“In ASEAN, we are starting to see phase 2 of the fintech revolution with bigger Chinese fintechs setting their sights on countries in the region as the next step in their growth agenda.”

“For Singapore, not only is more investment flowing into regtech and insurtech, the country is paving the way for ASEAN in the development of a regional fintech innovation sandbox, and seeing stronger regulator support that allows for greater financial inclusion.”